AME 352

Sensors

Part I
Hints for Wcheckup 6

2
 FSM into Digital Circuits

• 2-bit counter = FSM with 4 states.

Output
MSB LSB
O4 O3 O2 O1

Increment
CLK 4-bit Counter
2-bit
Reset

3
 FSM into Digital Circuits

• 2-bit counter = FSM with 4 states.

• State 1: 0
• State 2: 1
• State 3: 2
• State 4: 3

• Action: CLK pulse results in increment.

4
Regular 4-bit Up/Down Counter

Output
MSB LSB
O4 O3 O2 O1

Increment
CLK 4-bit Counter
Reset

• This block can also be an FSM with a

default 16-states.
5
 Regular 8-bit Up/Down
Counter
Output
MSB LSB
O8 O7 O6 O5

Output
MSB LSB Increment
O4 O3 O2 O1 O4O3O2O1 =CLK-IN 4-bit Counter
Reset

Counter 2

Increment
CLK 4-bit Counter
Reset

Counter 1

• 8-bit counter using two 4-bit counters.

• Intercept when counter 1 reaches 15 and
increment counter 2 by6 one.
 Wcheckup 7

• Wcheckup 7 Due March. 24, 11:59 pm

• Notes
• Submission Link

7
 Introduction to Sensors

What is Sensing? (simple)

Sensing is converting a quantity that you want to
measure into a usable signal (usually electronic).

What is perception? (complex)

Perception is the interpretation or understanding of

these signals.
 Sensing and Perception
Example: Two people talking to each other
Sensing:
• Property: Sound
• Sensor: Ear Drums

Perception:
• Words, Sentences – Making sense of what was
communicated.
Sensing involves converting physical quantities (Property) into signals
(Usually Electronic Signals)
Perception involves converting the signals into higher constructs often
having a meaning, description, construct.
 Types of Sensors

Exteroceptive: Deal with the external world

• What am I looking at? e.g. Camera sensors
• Where is it? e.g. Ranging sensors
• How hot is it? e.g. Temperature sensors

Proprioceptive: Deal with self

• How fast am I spinning? e.g. Rotation sensors
• What is my orientation? e.g. Inertial sensors

Interoceptive: Self Monitoring

• Battery level?
Human Sensing vs Machine
Sensing

11
 Human Sensors
• Our preference:
• Vision
• Range Distance
• Distance Travelled
• Sound
• Touch
• Size
• Hardness
• Force Sensing
• Smell
• Taste
• Ranked by range and threat perception-level…
• We are built to be hunters and survivalists…
12
 Camera ?= Eyes
• Modern digital cameras not even close to
human/mammalian eyes.
• Our eyes are limited by bandwidth, color, motion, detail
sensing…
• But eyes work closely with the brain to make sense of
what we see (perception).
• The brains fills in for incoherent or missing info so you can
make decisions quickly.
• Researchers have created/found optical illusions that can
fool our brain but in the act show how it is working.

13
 Camera ?= Eyes

• Indirect view of these patterns show

rotation where there is14 none…..
 Camera ?= Eyes

• This picture is grayscale, with colored

squares. 15
 Camera ?= Eyes

• The green, yellow, blue, red/gray shirts

don’t exist! 16
 3D Perception and
Shadowing

• A and B are the same shade of gray!

17
 3D Perception and
Shadowing

• Once A & B are linked, the colors look the

same! 18
 Machine Sensors

• Vision sensing is hard.

• Range and distance measuring is easy but
doesn’t rely directly on vision.
• Determining size, hardness, force sensing
are all relatively easy.

• Quite a mismatch in strengths between

machine and humans.

19
 Sensor Systems
• Interface to sensors may be digital or analog.
• We will emphasize digital interfacing.
1. Simple sensors typically use voltage as a
working signal to make measurements.
• Single digital variable (1 to 8 data ports)
2. Mid-tier complex sensors may use counters, adders, and
subtractors.
• Single digital variable with memory (1 to 16 data ports)

3. Most complex sensors have their own microcontroller

on board and will require communication via serial or
parallel.
• Single serial or parallel connection
20 (9 or 25 port/lines)
 Jump from Simple to
Complex Sensors
• Big jump from Sensor type 1. and 2.
because of the amount of wiring
connection you need.
• Sensor type 1 is easy to interface but if
you add functions, wiring connections can
get complex.
• Hence everybody jumps over to use serial
or parallel. Let you use fixed number of
channels to communicate large chunks of
data.
21
 Simple Sensors

• You have heard the term 8-bit or 16-bit

sensor resolution.
• The sensors outputs voltage as say an 8-
bit or 16-bit variable.
• For 8-bit: Resolution consists of 28 states = 0…255
• For 16-bit: Resolution is 216 of states = 0…65,535

• What if you have 16-bit sensor but 8-bit input variable?

• Answer: You truncate.

22
 16-bit to 8-bit Truncation

MSB LSB

Upper 8-bit word Lower 8-bit word

8-bit word

• Truncate by transferring over the upper 8-

bit word from a full 16-bit variable.

23
 Angular or Linear Displacement -
Potentiometer
• Consist of rotary potentiometer or variable resistor. Change in
resistor value corresponds to angular position.

• Linear potentiometers for tracking small linear displacements.

W7C1
24
 Angular or Linear Displacement -
Potentiometer

• Encoded as voltage:

VAW or VWB which will be directly proportional to the position of the shaft.

• Electrical Circuit:

W7C2
25
 Angular Displacement

• We then transfer the Voltage into 8-bit

input:
• So the number will vary from 0 to 255 and
corresponds to voltage of 0 to 5.

26
 Angular or Linear Displacement -
Potentiometer

• Uses: Keeping track of dial-setting or

sliding knob, servos, lever arms.
• Account: Bouncing/debouncing effect
during start/stop.
• Application: Sliding door system –
knowing door position state.

27
 Angular or Linear Displacement - Encoder

• Consist of rotary encoder. Counts or

pulses created due to rotation.

28
 Angular or Linear Displacement -
Encoder

• Example of an optical encoder. LED

shines through holes to receiver, creates
pulses.

29
 Encoder
• The two photosensors (A and B) positioned behind the coded disk sense the
infrared light emitted by the IR LED, which results in A and B signals/pulses,
in four distinct states as outlined in Table:

W7C3
State Signal A Signal B

1 OFF ON

2 OFF OFF

3 ON OFF

4 ON ON

30
 Key to Encoders -
Position
• Encoders measure distance, d.
• They will take an 8-bit or 16-bit variable and
count pulses (using 8-bit or 16-bit counter).

• If it’s 8-bit the circle, it is divided, T= 28 = 256

slices, T= PPR (pulses per revolution), N
number of pulses, r is radius.

W7C4
31
 Key To Encoders -
Velocity
• For Velocity:

• Velocity is simply d divided by change in

time.
• Change in time measured by taking
encoder pulse count at t1 and t2. Presume
no rollover happened.
32 W7C5
 Key To Encoders -
Acceleration
• For Acceleration:

• Acceleration is simply v divided by

change in time.
• Change in time measured by taking
encoder pulse count at t1 and t2. Presume
no rollover happened.
33 W7C5
 Differences Between
Encoder
• High-performance encoder have a larger encoder count, say
16-bit resolution.
• Counter takes longer to count, so you don’t have to deal
with roll-over issues.
• Smaller slices means it can measure wheel turn more
accurately.
• Higher counting accuracy needed for measuring
acceleration.
Encoder Challenges (Overall):
• Harder to install after motor/axel setup design.
• Optical encoders can get damaged easily.
• Lose connection with axel.
34 W7C6
 Quadrature Encoder

• A & B states for encoder known as

quadrature encoder – rotation and direction

• A state for encoder.

35
 Encoder –
Forward/Reverse
• Encoder that can simply count pulses
going forward and subtract pulses going
backward.
• Simplest examples – 9-bit signed counter
• 8-bit value and 1-bit for the sign (negative
or positive).
• 8-bit signed – 1 bit for sign, 7 bits for value

W7C7
36
Regular 4-bit Up/Down Counter

Output
MSB LSB
O4 O3 O2 O1

Increment
CLK 4-bit Counter
Reset

• Let’s your count up or down using a CLK

pulse.
37
 Regular 8-bit Up/Down
Counter
Output
MSB LSB
O8 O7 O6 O5

Output
MSB LSB Increment
O4 O3 O2 O1 O4O3O2O1 =CLK-IN 4-bit Counter
Reset

Increment
CLK 4-bit Counter
Reset

• 8-bit counter using two 4-bit counters.

38
 Encoder - 4-bit Up/Down
Counter

• Encoder keeps track of pulses/ticks count.

39
 Absolute Encoder

• Absolute Encoder – Position is known

even if the encoder is powered off.
• Maintains unique address for each encoder slice.

W7C8
40
 Encoder – Pulse to
Position
• Pulses generated by an encoder can be converted to
angular position (in degrees) as follows:

• Encoder for measuring angular movement. N is the decoder type, N = 1, 2,

or 4 corresponds to non-quadrature/X1, X2, and X4 decoders. PPR is
pulses per full rotation

41
 Encoder - Pulses

• Number of counts measured by x-4

encoder.

42
X1, X2, X4 Coders

43
 Analog to Digital
Sampling
• Analog signal digitized at different
frequencies.

W7C9
44
 Analog to Digital
Sampling
• Watch Out: Frequency way off could miss
underlying pattern.

45
Distance and Proximity Sensing

• Sonar Sensor:

46
Distance and Proximity Sensing

• Sonar Sensor:

• Where d is the distance between the sensor and the reflecting object, c is
the speed of sound, and t is the time it takes for the transmitted ultrasonic
ping to travel from the transmitter back to the receiver.

• Board can measure objects ranging from 6 to 254 inches with a resolution of
±1 inch.

47 W7C10
 Key to Proximity Sensor -
Position
• Proximity measure distance, d.
• They will take a 8-bit or 16-bit variable

• If it’s 8-bit the distance is divided into

= 28-1=255 slices. Output: 0 to 255.

48
 Sonar Sensor

• Works best for long-range (3-10 meters)

49
 Sonar Sensor

• Pro: Simple to Integrate, reliable results for

hard/solid objects.

• Cons: Doesn’t work with clothing,

blankets, and porous materials

• Needs air or fluid medium to work. Can’t

work in space.

50
 Time of Flight Sensors

• Time of Flight Sensors

W7C11

• where d is the measured target distance in meters, td is the time for the
bounced beam to be detected by the receiver in seconds, and c is the
speed of light in meters per second

51
 Time of Flight Sensor

• IR ToF, Laser ToF (Laser Range Finder)

52
 Time of Flight Sensor

• Example raw readings.

53
 Digital Proximity Sensor

• LED light reflected and picked up photo-

diode receiver.

• The sensor will either output an analog signal that is proportional to the
measured distance, or will output a digital equivalent of the measured
distance.

54
Digital Proximity Sensor

55
56